


Fear Makes Companions Of Us All

by queerspaceclub



Series: Looking To The Future [3]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Bisexuality, F/F, Flashbacks, Fluff, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, Nightmares, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:01:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26099839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerspaceclub/pseuds/queerspaceclub
Summary: Asami's been suffering after being brainwashed by Guan, but she's been pretty good at hiding it from Korra so far.Eventually, though, something's gotta give.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Series: Looking To The Future [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1712128
Comments: 4
Kudos: 92





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd initially planned for Team Avatar to go in a different direction after meeting up in Ba Sing Se, but the last few months have played havoc in my brain, and I've been coming to terms with my anxiety and how I deal with it. So I thought it might be nice for the Team to have a frank discussion about it too. Because you can't tell me brainwashing a person to attack their friends doesn't leave its mark somehow.
> 
> Follows on almost immediately after 'In Your Arms'. 
> 
> CW for anxiety/panic attacks/nightmares.

“Korra!”

A faint cry for help registered slowly in Korra's brain, but she couldn't quite see what was happening around her. Everything was shrouded in a thick fog, and her arms felt sluggish; her body refused to listening to her. But the cry came again, closer this time, and Korra spun around, desperately searching for the source of the voice.

“Asami?” There was no response, and Korra cried out in frustration as she tried to run. But her legs wouldn't move; looking down, she saw they'd turned to water, washing away before her eyes. Fear caught in her chest as she scrabbled for purchase, her legs giving way completely and sending her crashing to the ground.

“Korra!”

She blinked, and found herself staring at the ceiling, blankets tangled around her legs. Outside, thunder rumbled in the distance and rain lashed the windows. Even as her brain adjusted to reality again, she knew something was wrong, and as she rolled over, Asami's elbow nearly cracked her in the face. Her girlfriend was fighting with the blankets in her sleep, mumbling Korra's name and wrapped up so tightly Korra was surprised they hadn't torn the blankets between them.

“Asami,” she said, reaching up to try and rouse her. “Asami, wake up. It's ok. I'm here.”

It took several moments before Asami gasped, her eyes springing open as she grabbed Korra's arms to roll over and pin her down, breathing heavily. A flash of lightning briefly illuminated her face; it was pale, and frightened.

“It's just me, it's Korra,” she said, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible. Asami's eyes seemed to clear, and she loosened her grip, the fight draining out of her.

“Sorry, I thought- sorry.” Korra gave Asami a moment to collect herself as she untangled the two of them from the blankets. She was no stranger to waking up in the middle of the night to an imaginary attack, after all.

Or a real attack, for that matter.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, as they settled back into bed. Asami pursed her lips, but allowed Korra to pull her into her arms. They lay like that for a while, listening to the rain, and as she took deep, calming breaths, Korra could feel Asami's heart ticking away, gradually returning to a normal speed.

She remembered waking up in cold sweats, months - years, even - after the Red Lotus's attack. Even now, occasionally, Zaheer's face loomed in dark corners whenever she was feeling particularly vulnerable, but he no longer held any power over her, and it was easy to banish those thoughts away. But she'd been alone, those nights in the South Pole, aside from Naga's warmth, and she was determined that Asami would never suffer on her own.

“I dreamt we were still under Commander Guan's control,” she murmured eventually, her face buried against Korra's chest. “Brainwashed.”

Korra closed her eyes, rage bubbling beneath the surface at those words. Guan's cruel regime still had a hold over her girlfriend, and Korra didn't think she could ever forgive him for that.

With time, she hoped she might eventually be able to forgive herself for not being able to protect Asami.

“It's ok. You're safe. I'll keep you safe,” she said, pressing her lips to her hair.

“I know. I'm glad you're here.”

“Everything's gonna be ok.”

* * *

The following morning, after a light breakfast, they strode across the palace grounds, noting how empty everything felt. After the Earth Queen's demise, Mako told them that Wu hadn't bothered replacing much of what had been looted. Even the apartment they'd been staying in was fairly simple. For a royal residence, anyway.

As they neared the palace, a figure came rushing out to greet them.

“It's me! Bolin!” he said, bounding towards them, Pabu hanging on to his shoulders for dear life. Mako followed at a walk, shaking his head, with King Wu himself bringing up the rear.

“Bolin! What are you doing here?”

“Well,” he said, panting and coming to a stop. “Mako said you were coming, and Zhu Li gave me some time off, and since you had that fight last week I thought I'd join so Team Avatar can be back together again!” At his words, Mako raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth, but Wu beat him to it, sliding between them.

“You two had a fight? Tell me _everything_.”

“We didn't-”

“It's not a big deal-”

“Everything's _fine_ ,” said Korra, giving Bolin a firm look as he cleared his throat, turning bright red. She had no desire to air out their grievances to Wu, who was more than likely to accidentally spill to the nearest journalist. Mako would just have to wait for an explanation.

“What's the plan for today?” said Asami. “Any more meetings with the city representatives?” Fortunately, Wu took the bait, because it looked as though he were about to try and squeeze out some more details.

“Oh, well, a few of the elders from the Lower Ring are busy trying to help some of the farmers, that storm last night did a lot of damage out there. So I'll go and see what I can do - you're off the hook for today, Korra. And you, Mako. If they had a fight it sounds like they need you. Take the day off,” he said, and then, without bothering to hide it, he muttered, “ _and give me the details when you get back_.” Mako rolled his eyes.

“I'm not gonna take the day off just to get intel on my friends,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Fine, fine, well, take the day off anyway. You should go down to the Jade River Spa, they have the _best_ mud masks. Tell them I sent you and ask for Dai Yong, she's the best.” With that, he straightened his jacket and strolled back through the palace doors, leaving them to stand in awkward silence.

“Well,” said Mako, “we _could_ go to the spa. It's not that bad, really.”

“Maybe we should,” said Korra, shrugging and looking over at Asami. She'd had bags under her eyes when they woke up that morning, but Korra was impressed with how cleverly she'd covered them with makeup. “A chance to relax.”

“Yeah, I like that,” she said.

“Well, it's not a Team Avatar mover-worthy adventure,” said Bolin, looking a little put out, “but to the spa it is!”

* * *

“So. What happened, and why does Bolin know and not me?” They were all relaxing in a private spa, shrouded by steam, and Mako lifted the corner of the towel draped over his face to look at them.

“It's nothing.”

“Well, actually-”

“Bolin, let them talk!” said Mako. Bolin's eyes widened, and he mimed sealing his lips with a key and throwing it away.

“I was just being stupid. Everything's fine now,” said Korra, resisting the urge to create more steam with her bending to give her something to hide behind.

“You were being Korra,” said Asami, a smile tugging at her lips. “She was just worried after what happened with Tokuga, and Commander Guan.”

“And then I tried to tell you to just stay home while I go off on Avatar business, and then I ran off when I didn't get what I wanted.” Both Bolin and Mako chuckled, and Korra couldn't help but join in; she'd been so stupid and hot-headed.

“Yeah. I went to Bolin's place - I thought you might have gone there. And I didn't really want to be on my own.”

“Naga and I slept in the park.”

“Guess you deserved it,” laughed Mako.

“Well, yes,” said Asami slowly. “But maybe you had a point, and I overreacted too.”

“What?” Korra raised her eyebrows as they all turned to look at Asami. Mako's towel slid off his face into the water, unnoticed by all of them.

“I've always tried to just tough things out, and not let things get to me, but...” She trailed off, her arms crossed over her chest to hold herself, and Korra put an arm around her. “That dream I had last night, it wasn't the first one. It's been every night, since you rescued us. But I've never woken you up before. He just... I hated feeling like I had no control. And I think a part of me wished you could just keep me safe. It wouldn't have happened if I'd listened to you.” She paused again, not meeting the boys' gaze as her eyes filled with tears.

“You know,” Mako sighed, moving closer to rest a hand on her shoulder, “I've been having those nightmares too. It was awful. Like I was watching myself carry out his orders.”

“Me too,” said Bolin, and for once, the eagerness had dropped out of his voice. “Even after we got rescued I was worried it hadn't worked, like we'd just go back to being robots.” Korra looked at the three of them, and while she wasn't surprised that the after-effects of Guan's brainwashing had been so severe, it still hurt to hear how much her friends had suffered. In silence.

“Yeah. It's been rough. Had to take some time off from looking after Wu. Hasn't been like that since... well, since Mom and Dad died.” Mako's brow was furrowed; the air was heavy with emotion. “But talking about it helps. Bolin and I talked a bit. Even Wu and I talk about it sometimes. I guess I thought you two...” He trailed off, looking between Korra and Asami.

“We should have talked about it,” Asami admitted. “I just didn't want to accept how much it affected me. How much it's still affecting me.”

“We're all here for you. Team Avatar, remember?” said Bolin.

“Yeah. Remember after Zaheer? You looked after me for a few weeks on Air Temple Island, and we didn't really talk about it, but it still helped. When I went back to the South Pole I kept having nightmares, nothing Katara did really helped. I needed that time on my own but... it was a little better, when I was with you. I don't know how, really. I can't explain it. But it was.” Asami nodded, and at that moment, a knock came at the door.

“Who is it?” called Mako.

“A message from King Wu,” said the voice, as a short man with a trailing beard slid open the door. “He says the farm damage was not caused by the storm at all, but by some Earth Empire stragglers who used it as a cover.”

“What?!”

“They need you back at the palace urgently.” Korra, Mako and Bolin all began climbing out of the water, but Asami remained, her eyes closed, clutching a hand to her chest.

“Asami? What's wrong?” She shook her head, taking several quick, shallow breaths, and behind them, Korra could hear Mako shooing the messenger back to the palace. Despite the hot water, Korra could see that she'd gone pale again.

“I don't- I can't breathe properly-”

“I'll go, you two stay here and look after her,” said Mako, who was already drying himself off, ducking behind a screen to pull on his clothes.

“I'm coming too,” said Bolin.

“What's going on? I thought the Earth Empire were finished? How can they be back?”

“It's ok. They can take care of it for now, we'll go back in a minute. Just breathe for a moment,” said Korra. Heart pounding, she turned to nod at Bolin and Mako, who hurried out the door.

“I don't know what's happening.”

“Don't think about it right now. Is it alright if I hold you?” She nodded, and Korra put her arm around her again, taking her hand. “Just hold my hand. You can squeeze it if you want. Focus on breathing.” Together they took slow, even breaths, and while Korra had no clue what to do, all that mattered was that Asami knew she was safe. Slowly, the colour returned to her cheeks.

“What happened to the others?”

“They've gone back to the palace. We can stay here for a while.”

“No, I want to help, I don't know why I-”

“It's ok. The Earth Empire hurt you. You're allowed to be afraid.”

“That's why we have to fight them,” she said, climbing out of the water. Korra bit her lip.

“Are you sure? We don't have to.”

“I'm alright. Besides, you're the Avatar. They need your help.”

“So do you.” As they dried off and changed back into their clothes, Asami shook her head.

“I need to face them.”

“Alright. Let's go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is a quote from Clara Oswald in the Doctor Who episode 'Listen'.


	2. Chapter 2

It didn't take long for them to change back into their clothes and start rushing back towards the palace. The spa staff didn't seem all that perturbed by their hasty exit, but then, they _did_ look after King Wu fairly often. Weirder things had probably happened.

Korra kept a close eye on Asami the whole way back, but her girlfriend said nothing. She seemed to have recovered from her shock, but Korra was mentally kicking herself for not noticing her struggling since being rescued from Guan. Hadn't Asami _told_ her she hadn't been sleeping well, that night they argued? Hadn't she talked about starting to have flashbacks? And instead of trying to help her, she'd made things a hundred times worse by leaving.

Never mind, she thought. They could talk about it later. Right now, they had Avatar business to deal with, and if Asami was willing and able to help, Korra wasn't going to stand in her way.

As they entered the palace, they could hear shouting echoing from down the hall, and the two of them raced towards the open door at the end.

“We need to go now! Why are we waiting?”

“We don't know enough about this base, it could-”

“Korra! Asami!” Mako looked up from the argument he was having as the girls burst in. Earth Kingdom soldiers were circled around a large table, all wearing looks of shock and surprise, including Bolin, who was tapping his fingers on the table and looking around at them all with wide eyes. Mako was standing, his palms pressed flat into the table as he leant over it; he was clearly frustrated about not getting his way.

“What's going on?” Korra demanded.

“There's Earth Empire rebels camped out a little way from the city - they managed to get inside the outer walls last night and tore up some of the farmland, attacked some of the farmers.”

“What? How?”

“We don't know. Wu and his guard radioed in a little while ago, they've managed to work out where they're located. That's when these guys called us back.”

“How many are there?”

“A handful. We can take them, I keep saying that-”

“Then let's _go_.” Chairs scraped across the floor as several of the earthbenders got up at Korra's command, but the one who'd been arguing with Mako when they arrived looked frazzled.

“We don't know for sure! What if this is just an ambush?” she cried.

“If there were more, we would have found them by now,” said Asami quietly. Korra turned to look at her; she still looked pale, but was otherwise steady. “They're not exactly hard to spot. Most of them got taken in when Guan was defeated. Besides - attacking the farms? It doesn't make any sense. If they managed to get inside, why not attack the palace? There can't be many of them.”

Korra raised her eyebrows, surprised she hadn't realised that herself. Asami's words seemed to convince the final earthbender, at any rate; she huffed and got up, motioning for her soldiers to start filing out. As they marched to the door, Korra stood back with Asami.

“You should-”

“I'm coming with you,” she said, opening the bag she'd brought to the spa and pulling out her gauntlet.

“I know. I want you to.”

“You brought that?” asked Bolin, as he and Mako approached.

“I take it everywhere,” she said simply, strapping it on and flexing her wrist. Electricity crackled at her fingertips. “Let's go.”

* * *

“Are you sure you're ok?” asked Korra. They were standing in a secluded part of the airship, gazing out through the window as they passed over Ba Sing Se's outer wall.

“I think so. That- that's never happened to me before.”

“But you've been remembering what happened with Guan.” Asami nodded.

“Not all of it. Flashes. But back at the spa - it all just came rushing back at once. We'd been talking about it, but then that messenger came in and for a moment it just felt like _he_ had control over me again. I couldn't even move.”

“You don't have to fight if you don't want to,” said Korra, rubbing Asami's arm.

“I do. I need to know that I'm in control.” Suddenly, behind them, Bolin shouted, pointing towards the ground.

“There!”

It wasn't much more than a rocky outcrop, but as they circled lower, a few tents could be made out. They were undoubtedly Earth Empire in origin, but there weren't many of them. What were they doing all the way out here?

They all jogged over towards the bay door as the airship came in to land, and most of them leapt out of the ship before it even touched the ground. Several large rocks were already hurling towards them, pelting the side of the airship, though they hardly dented the panels at all. 

Earth Empire figures were crouched around the rock formation ahead of them, staying sheltered while they made their attacks. There couldn't have been more than ten of them. Korra wondered why they were even insisting on fighting back when they were so heavily outnumbered, but all thoughts vanished as she dived under a rock hurtling towards her face, and the fight began in earnest.

Earth shattered and dust billowed out around them as they fought, and while Korra and the others managed to take a few of their opponents out, the sheer determination from the rebels kept them at bay. Each of them had a look of fury in their eyes, as though they were prepared to fight to the death out here for a pile of rocks.

Chaos reigned. Shouts rent the air as rebels and Earth Kingdom soldiers alike were tossed around like ragdolls. Under their feet, the ground rumbled and shook almost continuously. Korra could hardly tell which way was up as rocks continued to explode around her and she ducked and dived around them. Occasionally, she thought she caught a glimpse of Mako or Bolin fighting, but they vanished again as soon as she tried to help them.

Peering through the dust clouds, she spotted a rebel up ahead and steadied herself to make an attack. Amidst the background of shouting, though, she heard a familiar cry cut through the air and she spun around, watching as Asami was flung through the air. Korra's heart stopped as she landed on her side a few feet away, unmoving. 

Her split-second distraction was enough for the rebel to land a clean shot, and Korra cried out as a rock collided with the back of her skull. Pain exploded around her and the world seemed to narrow as she fell to her knees, giving her once last glimpse of Asami lying on the ground before everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

“Korra!”

Winded, but otherwise unhurt, Asami leapt to her feet and cartwheeled around to Korra's attacker, smashing her fist into the side of his neck as electricity shot through her fingers. He collapsed in a heap, screaming, and she immediately turned her attention to her girlfriend, who was still unconscious on the ground nearby. Another Earth Empire rebel was standing ready with a large rock, poised to come crashing down over Korra's head.

“No!” Her scream tore through her lungs as she ran over, as if in slow motion, and tackled the rebel to the ground. In the confusion, the rock missed Korra by several feet and tumbled away as Asami brought her glove down on the rebel's chest, knocking her out.

The battle raged on around them as Asami rolled away, scooped Korra up and raced around to a large boulder on the edge of the fight. Sheltered, she knelt down to try and rouse Korra, but she wouldn't wake. Fingers pressed against her neck and wrists, and for a moment panic surged through Asami again, until she felt a familiar throb under her fingertips.

Those same fingers checked Korra over quickly, feeling her chest rising and falling. Around them, shouting echoed off the stone and she gripped Korra's hand to anchor herself in reality, fighting off the waves of anxiety as she waited for her eyes to flutter open again.

They would, wouldn't they? 

“Korra! Is she ok?” Asami's heart caught in her throat as Bolin skidded to a halt beside her. _Get a grip_ , she told herself. This was not the time or place to dissolve into a wreck again. Whatever lasting effects Guan's brainwashing had left, she could deal with them later. Right now, Korra needed her to be strong.

“I think so. She hit her head, but she's breathing.” Bolin quickly bent the earth around them to create a more sturdy shelter, and then tried to prod Asami back towards the fighting.

“Go, I can attack from here, you take them out with your glove. Korra'll be ok.” Asami bit her lip. She could simply back out now and try and carry Korra back to safety on the airship, and find the med bay, but the fight stood between them. Safer to end the fight as quickly as possible and let Bolin protect her, lest they both get injured trying to get back to the ship.

Taking a deep breath, Asami bent down to brush her lips against her girlfriend's forehead. Then she leapt back into the fray, ignoring the dust stinging her eyes as she brought her gloved fist down on as many rebels as she could find. Everywhere she turned, she saw Korra's unconscious face and it only served to spur her on, determined to defend the woman she loved, who had always come to her rescue before. Now it was her turn.

Her heart hammered in her chest, but the paralysis that had accompanied it lately was gone. Instead, electricity crackled at her fingertips as she weaved around the rebels' attacks with ease, her body moving in the way it had been trained to do from the age of six. Her mind was completely blank, save for only one thing.

Finally, outnumbered as they were, the rebels went down. Asami took several deep breaths as she undid the straps on her glove, watching Mako, who had one of the rebels by the scruff of the neck and was holding him against the rock, a fistful of fire held ready.

“By order of King Wu I demand that you tell us where the rest of you are hiding!”

“The Earth Empire is supreme!” Around them, similar struggles were taking place with the other rebels, but none of them were giving up any information. They all had exactly the same look in their eyes - and then it clicked.

“Mako, wait!” Asami rushed forward, tugging at Mako's arm. “Don't you see? They're still under Guan's control.”

“But we defeated him!”

“Then they obviously don't know that. The brainwashing must still be working.” Mako lowered his hand, but kept a tight grip on the rebel's collar.

“How can you be sure?”

“Look at them, Mako. _Really_ look at them.”

“Yeah, I think you're right,” said Bolin, coming up behind them, Korra unconscious in his arms. “They're all saying the same things.”

“What happened to Korra?”

“She's alright, one of the rebels hit her.”

“We need to get them back to the palace. Right now. Korra too, we can get her to a healer.” Mako turned back to the other soldiers and began to bark orders at them, dragging the rebel away from the rockface as the others began to board the ship again.

* * *

“Your mind is your own.” Asami's voice rang out, crisp and clear in the palace hall, as Korra shuffled in. Her head was still throbbing madly, but she'd ignored the healer's pleas and marched off as soon as she'd forced out Asami's location.

As she watched, the eyes of the rebels began to clear. They stopped struggling against the bonds, looking around at each other in horror.

“It's alright. We won't hurt you. Do you know who this is?” she asked, pointing to King Wu.

“King Wu? What... what's going on? Where's Commander Guan? The last I remember is Captain Kwon saying he wanted to see us.”

“You're in Ba Sing Se. Commander Guan was defeated a week ago - but he used brainwashing technology on you and your unit.”

“Ba Sing Se? You mean- we attacked already? I thought it was a suicide mission, but Guan already ordered three defectors imprisoned and then- he must have known...” The man was shaking his head, taking short, shallow breaths. Korra sunk into a chair, hardly able to think through the thick fog in her mind. 

The rebel explained that an organised attack on Ba Sing Se had been drawn up - at the same time they had attacked last night, three other units were supposed to have breached the city's walls too. But they had all been rounded up with Guan, and the attack had never been unprogrammed from the remaining soldiers' minds.

Korra hardly noticed as Mako and a few other Earth Kingdom officials took over the interrogation. It was clear now that the soldiers hadn't wanted to obey Guan after Kuvira fell - how many more of his soldiers had been coerced into fighting for him?

“How are you feeling?” Korra blinked, and Asami came into focus above her.

“I'm _fine_ ,” she insisted. “I've hit my head before.”

“You were unconscious for a long time. You should be resting.” Korra opened her mouth to argue, but at that moment her head throbbed painfully again and she groaned.

“Ugh. Maybe you're right. But what happened? I woke up with the healer and all he said was that you were all in here - how did you know they'd been brainwashed?” Asami turned to look at where the others were gathered around the machines, then took Korra by the arm and helped her up.

“Come on. I'll take you back to the healer - and I'll explain on the way.” Korra gave her a pointed look. “I will. Promise.”

They hobbled out and down the corridor, until the voices of the interrogators faded to a whisper. The late afternoon sun streamed in through a window as Korra stood under it, and turned to her girlfriend.

“So? What happened?”

“The fight didn't last much longer after you got hit,” Asami said. “I had to carry you out of the way, I was so worried that you- but we rounded the rebels up, and Mako was yelling at them, trying to get the information out. You know, in his cop voice. _Tell me everything you know!_ ” she said, imitating Mako's voice. They both looked at each other for a beat, and then burst out laughing.

“Don't, it hurts to laugh too much,” Korra said, rubbing her forehead, but she was still grinning.

“Anyway, I don't know what it was, really. I guess the whole situation just seemed a bit funny to me from the start. Why would a tiny group of rebels start causing havoc in the Outer Ring? But I was watching Mako with the rebel leader and he was shouting at us that the Earth Kingdom would be wiped out but - his eyes said something different.” She turned to gaze out the window, sighing. With the way the light fell, Korra could see tiredness etched into every line on her face.

“It's been coming back lately, you know. My memory of that. Flashes of it. I remember... being afraid. And having something else squash that fear and force you to fight. That's what I saw, in his eyes. Fear. They all had that look, and when I realised, it seemed so obvious. They would never have known Guan had been taken out if they'd been hiding out in the desert.”

Silence followed this. Korra reached out to take Asami's hand, wishing she'd felt comfortable enough to share her feelings sooner.

“You knew they didn't want to do it.” Asami nodded. “Well. I just hope there aren't any more of them still hiding out there.”

“I don't think so. But if they are, the Earth Kingdom can handle it without the Avatar. You need time to recover.”

“Maybe you do too.”

* * *

“I still can't believe we didn't figure out they'd been brainwashed,” said Mako, shaking his head.

“Maybe you just didn't want to see it,” said Korra, shrugging. She was perched on the railing, watching him.

They were back on Air Temple Island again. Korra had insisted that they all take some time off to hang out together, without any 'saving the world' to be done, and it hadn't taken much for Mako, Bolin and Asami to agree.

“Maybe you're right,” he said, leaning forward on the wooden rails, eyes fixed on the water. “It just wasn't an experience I wanted to remember.”

“Me either,” said Asami. “But it happened. And none of us are doing ourselves any favours by ignoring it. I had a meltdown while we were in a _spa_.” They all chuckled quietly at this.

“Well, it's good to know that the famous, the wonderful Miss Sato, businesswoman extraordinaire, is still human like the rest of us,” said Bolin. “You had me worried for a moment.”

“What do you mean?” she said.

“Well, you didn't really say anything to me and Mako on the way home after you rescued us. Or, you know, for about two weeks afterwards until you turned up at my apartment that night. And I'm not saying,” he said, as Asami opened her mouth to argue. “that I'm upset with you. Just that, you know, you can talk to us if you need to.”

“Hey, you didn't talk to me either.”

“Well, Pabu and I were very busy with Zhu Li!” Mako rolled his eyes, and cuffed him on the back of the head.

“Come on. None of us dealt with things properly at all, it wasn't just Asami. I kept having nightmares after I got back on the job. Wu said he did too but... I don't know, I thought if I distracted myself enough it'd go away.”

“You can't go round ignoring things forever, dear brother,” said Bolin solemnly. “But I, too, know how you feel. We're safe now, but that doesn't take away what happened.”

“That's why I brought you here,” said Korra, gesturing at the pavilion they stood in. “I know it's kinda preachy for the Avatar to talk about spirit-y stuff but, well...” She faltered for a moment, her face heating up. What if they thought her idea was stupid?

“What is it?”

“Well, you know the airbenders are big on meditating. That's their thing, right? I always used to hate it, nothing Tenzin said ever really helped, it was too hard. But after Zaheer - when I was back at the South Pole, Katara and I would meditate together. And it helped a little but I never kept up with it, I thought the whole thing was stupid. But I think she told Tenzin, because when I got back to Republic City he brought me out here one day and showed me a little trick, and after that it just, I don't know, I felt better. Helped me realise there are some things I can't control, you know? And that I should focus on the things I can,” she said, shrugging. “I thought maybe it would help you guys, but we don't have to-”

“Let's do it!” said Bolin, dropping to the ground and getting comfortable. “I am all about getting more connected with my spiritual side. Do we get to ring the little gong? What about incense? We need incense- except no wait, Pabu will start sneezing-”

“We don't need incense,” said Korra, stifling a laugh. “Just sit down and close your eyes.” 

The four of them did just that, facing each other in a circle, and as they settled, Asami reached out to take her hand silently. 

“So, uh, yeah,” she said, clearing her throat. It felt a bit odd - she wasn't exactly an expert. “Relax. Obviously. The idea isn't actually to clear your mind. You should let your thoughts come and go. And not get carried away with them. Tenzin told me to try and imagine being beside a river, with leaves floating along. And whenever a thought comes along you just take it and put it on a leaf, and when you're ready you let it go.”

She paused, and all they could hear was the ocean lapping on the rocks in the distance. Her explanation hadn't been much. But what else was she meant to say?

“I don't know if that makes any sense, I know it doesn't sound very complicated but-”

“Relax, Korra,” said Mako. “It's a good idea. Let's just... take some time to let things go.” She opened one eye to see him smiling at her, and nodded. The four of them sat there as the breeze flowed through the pavilion, in and out in time with their breathing. 

Not everything would be fixed and healed that afternoon, but maybe in time, as long as they were together, it would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> This whole story kind of formed itself in reverse - I really liked the idea of Korra teaching them to meditate on Air Temple Island. The method she explains is a real method I was given recently to help with my anxiety. I've always admired the airbending culture and I think we could all stand to be more mindful and talk to our friends and support figures - which is not to say that this is going to fix everything! If you have more severe mental health challenges, make sure you reach out to get the help you need, whether it's talk therapy or medication.
> 
> If you're interested in where the title came from, you can watch the full speech here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibL6Y0VN4Ys


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